Against the Current
by feari teiru
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple con. She was supposed to walk in dirt poor and walk out with more riches than she'd ever imagined. It wasn't supposed to end with her on the hit list of one of the most feared Yakuza families in the land.
1. Chapter 1

**Against the Current**

**Summary: **It was supposed to be a simple con. She was supposed to walk in dirt poor and walk out with more riches than she'd ever imagined. It wasn't supposed to end with her on the hit list of one of the most feared Yakuza families in the land.

**1; **big fish, little fish

"_This is a tough world, only the big fish survive. You either learn to swim against the current, or you get swept away." _

She learnt from a very young age that the world wasn't a kind place.

You had to be tough to survive; people who hesitated, people who were kind, people who were _weak_, didn't get very far.

Somebody shifted in the room and she swallowed thickly, forcing herself to look up.

_This is a tough world, only the big fish survive._

She sat in a dimly lit room with only one exit. A shirtless man wearing only a pair of black hakama pants stood in front of the door. His upper body was covered in intricate tattoos, she could barely see an inch of his pale skin. He stood glaring at the inhabitants of the room, a slim blade resting snugly on his hips.

She bit her lip.

_You either learn to swim against the current._

She tore her gaze away from the shirtless man and instead took to staring at the other three men in the room with her.

A dark skinned man sat closest to her. He sat stiffly on his mat, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. His attire was entirely black, apart from a bright white unfamiliar symbol on the shoulder and back of his upper garments. The man shifted suddenly and turned his head.

She gasped sharply as their gaze met. Only for a second, but it was enough to make her heart flutter with nerves.

His right eye was swollen shut, and was sporting a sickly purple hue.

He huffed lightly before dropping his gaze.

Heart still racing, she turned to the final two men left in the room. They sat closely together. The older man sat in front of the large rectangular table, whilst the younger man sat just directly behind him. The younger man seemed to be the only one in the room who didn't comprehend the severity of the situation. Whilst everyone else wore grim, determined looks, and for the most part refused to make eye contact with the others in the room, the young man simply leant back onto the palms of his hands and grinned.

The older man seated in front wore a much more sober expression on his face. He sat with his chin resting in his palms as he stared thoughtfully at the table in front of him.

_Or you get swept away._

She took a deep breath and sat up a little bit straighter as she remembered the advice she had heard years ago.

She would _not _get swept away.

She could do this.

She would survive.

She coughed quietly, earning the attention of the men in the room.

Once they were all staring at her with quizzical expressions on their faces, she took a deep calming breath and forced the apprehension she felt pooling in her stomach away. She allowed a small smirk to grace her soft features.

"Gentlemen, are you ready?"

There was a poignant pause before they all either grunted or murmured in agreement.

"Excellent. Shall we begin?"

And just like that, little Levy McGarden was swimming against the current.

.

.

.

He cracked his knuckles as he walked up and down the nearly empty street.

A few people paused to stare at him in worried confusion, but pretty quickly scattered off once they caught sight of his narrowed red irises and permanent scowl etched onto his face.

"Twenty-five," he grunted suddenly, stopping just opposite a dilapidated bar, "twenty _five_ fucking times."

He slipped into the darkened alleyway and glared angrily at the bar, as if the building had personally wrong him in some way.

Gajeel Redfox was not a very patient man.

He hated waiting for his food to cook.

He hated waiting for the water to warm for his baths.

He hated waiting for annoying partners who insisted in going in alone even though the two of them could have probably gotten the job done quicker if they went in together.

"Fucking Lily," he growled, still glaring at the bar.

Four hours ago, his partner and oldest friend, had entered the bar on a mission to get some intel on a rival family.

The job was meant to take one hour at the most.

Four hours later, and twenty five angry walks up and down the extremely long main street, and Lily was nowhere to be seen.

And Gajeel's temper was rising with each passing second.

The temptation to just stride across the road and storm into the bar demanding answers was becoming harder and harder to resist.

The only thing stopping him from acting on his desires was the fact Lily had made sure to take his katana before he left.

He leant against a wall and aimlessly patted his waist where the slim blade normally sat. He felt odd without his trusty weapon by his side, and mentally added another reason to his ever growing list on why he was going to kick Lily's ass.

If he ever returned.

His glare morphed from perpetually annoyed into one of mild concern.

It wasn't like Lily to take so long on a job. The man was the very definition of efficient. Gajeel had watched him take down five man gangs in under ten minutes without even breaking a sweat. There was no-one else Gajeel would have wanted to partner with.

He sighed as he settled himself into a crouching position in the alleyway he stood in.

"One more hour," he grunted to himself.

He would wait one more hour before storming in and letting all hell run loose.

.

.

.

"You all know the rules?" the shirtless man who had been guarding the door earlier now sat, cross-legged in front of the table.

Levy nodded.

The older man, who had revealed himself to José Porla, also nodded.

The younger man, who had cockily revealed his name to be Totomaru, scoffed, "tch" and Levy took that to mean he also understood.

The dark skinned man simply nodded. He had remained silent throughout the whole night and yet to reveal his name to the others. If it bothered either José or Totomaru, they did not let it show.

The shirtless man clapped his hands together and then stuck his palm out, "place your bets."

Instantly, José dipped into the folds of his shirt and extracted a bulging deep red pouch. He smirked and dropped the pouch onto the table.

Levy's eyes widened as she watched the pouch split open upon being dropped, and several shining gold coins oozed out.

Totamaru did the same, it was a little bit smaller, but still fairly sizeable and she could hear the sound of gold clinking as he chucked it without care onto the table.

The shirtless man inclined his head towards her.

"Ah, oh!" she blushed lightly before dipping into the folds of her kimono and pulling out two green pouches of coins. She bit her lip as she poised the pouches over the table.

"Second guessing yourself?" Totomaru sneered.

"Of course not," she replied sharply, dropping the pouches with a loud thud.

"And you?" the shirtless man turned to the final man in the room who had not moved to deposit his bet.

José cleared his throat, "our…_friend_…will not be wagering any money in today's game," he sneered, "we have agreed upon something else, should he lose."

Levy fought back a shiver as she watched the two men meet each others gaze.

There was something sinister about the way they stared at one another, and it made her skin crawl. She couldn't help but wonder what she'd gotten herself involved in.

"Is he going to declare what he will be wagering?" the shirtless man asked.

José shook his head, "there is no need. We don't want to scare our little Miss, anymore than necessary."

Levy flushed, "I am not scared. Merely curious about your little side wager."

José shrugged, "it is of a personal matter, not to worry, it won't interfere with your winnings. _Should _you win that is."

At that, Levy quirked her lips but turned her head.

"Now that all the bets are been declared, the game will begin," the shirtless man drawled, he picked up a bamboo cup from underneath the table and with it a pair of dice.

Levy's eyes narrowed as she watched the man toss the dice into the air.

He caught the dice with ease and chucked them into the cup before shaking the cup and turning it upside down on the table.

"Pick!" he roared.

"Han." José said calmly.

Han." Totomaru drawled.

"Cho." Levy called clearly.

"…Cho," the so far silent man called out quietly. Levy glanced up at him and recoiled backwards slightly. He wasn't staring at the cup like everyone else, he was staring at her with a peculiar expression on his face.

She dropped her gaze, and focussed on the shirtless man once again. The man nodded, and quickly lifted up the cup and quickly counted the sum on the dice.

"Eight," he said quietly, "the Cho's win."

Levy giggled gleefully as she leant across the table and swiped the pouches towards her, "unlucky gentlemen," she shot the three men a satisfied grin.

"One more round," José said suddenly as he dipped into his folds again and pulled out another slightly bigger pouch.

Levy frowned, "one match was all that was on the agenda."

"I don't like to lose."

She bit her lip as she stared at the three extremely heavy pouches she now carried.

"I put in 10,000 the first time," José said slowly as he watched her weigh up her decision, "I will double it the next."

"Tw-twenty thousand?" she whispered, "you'll put twenty thousand in?"

José nodded.

"OK," she agreed, deciding to ignore the tiny voice in her in her mind that was telling her to run, and run fast, "one more."

She placed her previous winnings back in the middle of the table and watched as José dropped his new bet on it.

Totomaru and the other man simply watched.

The shirtless man chucked the dice into the pot and shook it.

"Pick!"

"Han," José said immediately.

Levy paused before quietly saying, "Cho."

The shirtless man nodded twice before tipping the cup off the dice and revealing the number.

"Six," he called, "the Cho's win."

Levy smiled quietly and picked up her previous winnings, stuffing them into the insides of her kimono.

José said nothing, but picked up both the dice and his pouch.

He chucked the dice into the air, "you are a very lucky young woman," he said in a contemplating tone as he handed the pouch to Levy. The dice hit the table and he glanced at the number.

She snatched it from him quickly and stuffed it into the folds of her kimono along with the others, "today was simply my lucky day," she said nonchalantly, she bowed her head quickly and then pushed herself upwards into a standing position, "now, if you'll excuse me. I will take my leave."

"Ah," José said sharply, making her freeze in her position, "so soon?"

She nodded as she backed away from the table, "it is late, I have to return to my inn."

He tossed the dice up into the air once again and watched as they dropped onto the table with an ominous clang.

Levy swallowed thickly as she watched him pick up the dice and toss them once again.

"I see."

"T-thank you for having me," without turning her back on the men, she moved backwards until her back was pushed up against the door.

Her hand grabbed behind her for the handle but she froze as the dark man stood up.

"Ah, you're leaving as well?" José said, in what appeared to be a nonchalant voice as he watched the man dust his hakama off.

He nodded, "the terms of our bet were, if I won, I would be free to leave with my life," he said simply, and Levy was struck at the calmness of his voice. It was a complete contrast to his bulky frame.

"Those were our terms, weren't they Totomaru?" José asked slowly, turning to his underling.

Totomaru nodded, "I believe so."

The dice hit the table and José glanced at them and smirked.

"You," he pointed to Levy, "you are a very brave young woman."

She licked her lips, "a-and why is that?"

José did not answer straight away, instead he stood up, with Totomaru following him.

Levy felt her heart beat quicken exponentially as she watched the men stand to their full height. She noted, rather belatedly, that they were both rather well built. And, not for the first time that night, she was beginning to wonder if she had made the smartest of moves.

José bent down and picked up the dice,

"These dice, these dice are very partial to landing on _cho_, do you not think so?"

Levy froze.

"Hmm?"

"I…I…I wouldn't know," she mumbled quietly, kicking herself for not leaving as soon as she had won the first time.

José tutted and shook his head before tossing the dice in the air, "I'm willing to bet, hm…lets say your life, shall we? I'm willing to bet your life, that these die will land on an even number once again. Let's see shall we?"

Levy felt the blood drain from her face as she watched the tiny cubes drop unceremoniously to the ground.

"Totomaru, what number did it land on?" José asked, almost lazily.

"Fourteen."

"Fourteen?" José repeatedly in a deathly low voice, "now, young lady, these die have been thrown a total of six times and all six times they have landed on an even number. And so I tell you again; _you are a very brave young lady_. Or perhaps, you're just stupid."

"Why?" she whispered, a terrible feeling of dread pooling in her stomach.

"Not many people would come to _me_, José Porla, leader of Rodo and attempt to con me. Ah," he paused and smirked, "I see by the look on your face you have heard of Rodo?"

She nodded jerkily, she had most definitely heard of Rodo.

Quite possibly the most feared Yakuza family on this side of the ocean. They were responsible for nearly 60% of all crime around Fiore, and they had a nasty reputation for violence.

"And I see by the look of fear on your face, you would not have been so foolish to attempt this little trick of yours had you known who I was?"

She nodded once again.

"A pity," José said, "but, we cannot undo time can we? You have stolen from me, young lady, and I cannot have that. Totomaru, Rei, deal with her please."

The shirtless man stood up and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Levy whimpered as the two men began to inch closer towards her.

Was she really going to die here?

"_This is a tough world, only the big fish survive. You either learn to swim against the current, or you get swept away." _

The words she had heard years ago forced themselves into the forefront of her mind and she shook her head violently.

She _refused _to die here. She still had so much to do. With one fearful glance at Totomaru and Rei, she grabbed the handle of the door and pushed it open, sending her stumbling into the deserted corridor behind it.

She gasped as she tripped forward, but pushed herself onwards, forcing herself to dash down the corridor. Behind her she could José snapping at Totomaru and Rei to hurry up after her and she cursed her bad luck.

She whimpered as she sped down the corridor, begging the entrance to get closer. She knew if she could just rush out into the street, she could duck inside a darkened alleyway and hide from sight until they gave up searching.

Her eyes lit up at the door came into the sight.

She was going to make it.

She was going to survive.

She was-

She screeched in shock as someone yanked the back of her kimono and dragged her backwards.

"God damn it," she heard Totomaru snap as he tugged her, "you're a speedy one, aren't ya?"

She tossed and turned under his grasp, refusing to give up.

"Let me go!" she hissed, clawing at his hands, "_let me go_."

"Not a chance," he sniggered as he continued to drag her down the long corridor.

"Let _go_," she growled, reaching around her back to dig her nails into his hands. The action had the desired effect and he immediately dropped her to cradle his hand.

"The fucking hurt you bitch!" he growled, whirling around to kick her squarely in the stomach.

She doubled up and clasped at her stomach groaning, fully winded.

"Oi! Rei! Rei, get over here and shut her up."

Her eyes widened as she heard heavy footsteps making their way towards them.

"Stop! Stop it!" she cried, writhing under Totomaru's grasp.

"Tch," he huffed, "hurry up Rei."

Her eyes widened as Rei came into view. She watched as he reached for the blade on his hips and withdrew it.

Her heart missed several beats as she watched him raise it high into the air. She frantically squirmed and twisted, trying in vain to free herself.

"Stop moving," Rei grumbled before swinging the hilt of the blade down on the back of her head.

In seconds, she fell slack and crumpled onto the floor.

.

.

.

Just as time was nearing the one hour mark, and Gajeel's already thin veil of patience was beginning to evaporate, the door to was bar was thrust open and a familiar figure lumbered out.

He smirked as he watched his partner dart quickly down the road and round a corner. Within seconds, a young man with strange white and black coloured hair ran out after him, cursing.

"_Fuck_!" he spat as he looked left and right, trying to figure out which way he had ran.

Gajeel watched in amusement as the man took two steps to the left, then backtracked and moved to the right before apparently deciding it was pointless.

The man glared into the night before turning around and disappearing back into the bar.

Gajeel shook his head and chuckled before he emerged from his hiding spot in the alleyway. He quickly tore down the road in the direction Lily had gone.

He ran for about five minutes before he darted into an alleyway and smirked.

"Took you long enough," he said casually.

"I ran into some complications," Lily retorted, stepping out of the shadows to face his partner, "I'm surprised you didn't come running in."

Gajeel smirked as the two bumped fists, "you said you could handle it. Judging by your eye, you were wrong."

Lily smiled ruefully and rubbed the sore area around his right eyes, "I was caught off guard. No worries, it all worked out in the end."

"You got the info we needed?"

The pair emerged from the alleyway and began walking towards the nearby field where they had left their carriage upon entering the town.

Lily nodded, "I did."

They walked for a few minutes before Gajeel suddenly stopped in his tracks. He narrowed his eyes and glared at his friends.

"Where the hells my sword?" he growled.

Lily smiled sheepishly, "ah."

"_Ah?"_

"I'm afraid my captors still have it."

Lily wisely ducked as Gajeel swung for him, "calm down, I wasn't intending on leaving it in their possession for much longer."

"Are you sure about that?" he snapped, "because to me, it looks like you're walking away. Without. My. Sword. And stop smiling like that!"

Lily simply shook his and continued walking towards their carriage, "we'll get your sword."

"So why are we leaving?"

"I owe a young woman some help."

.

.

.

She blinked wearily and groaned when she finally regained consciousness not long afterwards.

Her vision was blurry and it took a few moments for her to stop seeing bright lights in her eyes every time she blinked.

Everything ached. Her mouth was dry, her head was throbbing painfully and her stomach kept lurching forwards still unsettled from the kick it had been dealt earlier.

Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips and she winced as her tongue tasted the strange metallic taste of blood. She frowned as she wondered what they had done to her to cause her lip to split.

Still feeling pretty disorientated, she turned her head from side to side, trying to figure out just where she was. A part of her, was celebrating the fact that she had not been killed yet. But another, more dominant part, was too busy panicking over their location.

She surmised pretty quickly, she had been placed in the back of a carriage, if the way she jostled gently up and down every few seconds was anything to go by. Which meant they were taking her somewhere, and the realisation didn't do much to comfort her.

The inside of the carriage was pitch black and, as far as she could tell, completely empty aside from herself.

She sniffed and moved her hands upwards to wipe her eyes and nose but found she couldn't move her arms more than a few inches.

Frowning she turned her head around and noticed, rather belatedly, that her hands had been bound together.

"Great," she huffed as she half heartedly tried to pull her hands apart, "just _great_."

When she had arrived in the small backwater town a few days earlier and heard rumours about an extremely rich man passing through, she hadn't thought twice about her little con.

She'd done it hundreds of times before after all.

It was a simple trick, as long as she managed to swap their dice with her only weighted ones without anyone noticing, her winning was guaranteed.

It was supposed to be a simple con. She was supposed to walk in dirt poor and walk out with more riches than she'd ever imagined. It wasn't supposed to end with her on the hit list of one of the most feared Yakuza families in the land.

"So close! I was so close!" she whimpered to herself as she tried again, without much success, to free herself from the bindings Totomaru had encased her in. Judging by the coarse feeling around her wrists, she had been bound with some sort of straw like material and it was starting to ache.

She tried a few more times to spread her wrists and tear the binding before she eventually slumped against the wall of the carriage in defeat.

She was trapped.

Tears pricked at her eyes but she determinedly blinked them away.

She refused to cry.

She could hear Totomaru's low voice talking through the walls of the carriage and she knew if she began to cry he would hear.

And she refused to give him that satisfaction.

Without warning the carriage began to jostle up and down violently, sending her jolting forwards onto her face.

She groaned as her chin smacked the floor with no chance of cushioning the fall. She hissed as waves of pain shot through her body and rolled over into a crouched position, moaning in agony.

In the front of the carriage she could hear somebody sniggering loudly and she didn't doubt that her captors had heard her fall and moan.

Judging by the way the carriage was moving, she figured they had diverted off the main road and were now travelling down the beaten dirt roads.

The thought didn't do much to comfort her, at least in the town there was a chance someone would have witnessed her death. Out of town, there was nobody.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she did her best to pull herself together.

"I guess I'm not a big fish," she mumbled sadly as she tucked her legs underneath her bottom and leant against the walls of the carriage.

Living in some of the poorest districts in Fiore, she'd never been expected to survive for very long. Children with no parents often found themselves stricken by hunger or disease and didn't live past ten. But she was quick witted, smart, and fast. By the age of eight she had learnt how to pick a lock, by nine she found she could sprint faster than any member of the Shogun. She was small, but she found her height worked to her advantage, she could always slip in and out of place unnoticed.

A life of petty crime had been fairly easy for her to adapt to. It was necessary after all. The world was cruel place, and nobody had anytime for an orphaned girl who didn't know how to fend for herself.

If you weren't useful, you were useless.

She scowled bitterly at the ground, "clearly that wasn't enough."

She wasn't sure how long they journeyed for but just as her eyes were beginning to close of their own accord, the carriage suddenly ground to an abrupt halt, and she was flung forwards once again. This time, she managed to stop herself from hitting the ground by curving her body so she landed on her right shoulder. The force of impact her wince a little and she had no doubt that her shoulder would be sorely bruised the next morning.

She righted herself as best she could and slid so she was leant against the back wall of the carriage.

The sound of muffled shouting reached her ear and she was suddenly all too aware of the fact the carriage hadn't started moving again.

Her heart began to race as she heard the distinct sound of heavy footsteps dragging themselves along the side of the carriage.

Were they really at their destination already?

Where the hell were they?

Were they going to kill her?

Her breathing became more labour as the small crack in between the two locked doors was suddenly covered by a dark shadow.

She whimpered as she heard a deep voice curse and then begin to fumble with the lock.

She swallowed thickly as she heard the same deep voice curse once more and then begin pounding on the locked doors. Her fear began to subside just a little as she realised the man could not open the doors.

"The idiots lost the key," she whispered, a grim smile crossing her face. The smile quickly faded as the wooden door began to creak under the pressure of the mans blows.

Key or no key, the locked door wasn't going to stop him.

She heard someone chuckle from behind the door and an anger she hadn't felt in years began to well up inside her.

They had another thing coming if they thought she was some weak female who would go down without a fight.

The sound of splitting wood reached her ears and she glared at the door as the man forced it open and began to claw it outwards.

The door was finally yanked open and almost instantly the dark carriage was illuminated in moonlight. She held her breath as a large shadowy figure poked his head through the opened door. In the right light, she could see it wasn't Totomaru, but a man with thick black hair pulled backwards into a ponytail.

She watched as he peered uncertainly into the carriage. He looked from left to right for a few seconds, still not noticing her crouched in the far right hand corner, desperately inching away from the reach of the moonlight.

"Oi, you sure there's someone in here?" he inclined his head slightly outside, voicing his confusion to whoever was with him.

"Yes."

"Tch," the black haired man scoffed before poking his head back into the carriage once again. This time he leant forward a bit more and she saw her chance.

She inched forwards slowly and just as he sighed and began to haul himself into the carriage she raised her leg. The man finally appeared to notice her.

He cocked his head to the side in confusion and moved closer to her.

"Oi, are yo- _what the fuck?_"

With a loud shriek of determination, she thrust her foot forward with more force than what was probably necessary, and slammed it squarely into his face, sending him reeling backwards.

She smirked as he fell out of the carriage, clutching his nose, and landed on his back.

Her little moment of glee didn't last for too long, for she quickly heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards the back of the carriage.

She groaned as she realised she had forgotten all about his accomplice. Sighing dejectedly, she slumped downwards.

"Well, at least I managed to break _his _nose before they killed me," she mumbled to herself as another shadow appeared in front of the open doors of the carriage. The thought that she'd manage to get just a little bit of revenge on her soon to be murderers made her feel a little better. Not much more, but it was something.

"Well, well, well," an amused sounding voice huffed, "is this how you repay your saviours, Miss?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief and her mouth dropped open in confusion as she stared at the smiling face of the dark skinned man who had been in the bar with her.

"Because I have to let you know, I would rather you didn't give me the same treatment."

.

.

.

**A/N: **Howdy! Okay so, have you ever seen a fanart that is so amazingly awesome you just find yourself so INSPIRED you have to drop everything and write because its created an awesome plot bunny in your head and if you don't write it down you'll go insane? No? Just me then! Well anyway, that was how I felt when I saw a piece of Yakuza AU fanart from the wonderful "raedoodles" and UGH IT'S JUST SO FABULOUS I COULDN'T NOT WRITE SOMETHING. And I've already been toying with the idea of writing a more "verbally badass/blunt" Levy so this was the perfect setting. So yes, I've used to work by raedoodles as the cover image for this fic but DEFINITELY GO TO HER TUMBLR [raedoodles dot tumblr dot com] and take a look at it yourselves guys because I really love it and I hope this fic does her work justice because awwwww ok I shall stop gushing now!

ANYWAY, back to the fic at hand.

This is an AU - obviously - set in the Edo-era in Japan (think Samurai Champloo / Gintama without the aliens) and is a Yakuza fic. I have researched the Edo period and the Yakuza quite a bit, but I'm not an expert on either topic, so there may be some discrepancies, but hopefully not too many and if they are really glaringly obvious and they make it so you can't continue this fic just send me a message and I'll fix it!

Levy has a personality that begins off more like her Edolas self, Earthland Levy will make an appearance eventually, so don't worry about that!

Cho-Han is a game of odd and even played in Japan. Cho = even. Han = odd. If anything's unclear right now, _do not worry, _it'll be explained in the coming chapters!

Rodo - according to the Fairy Tail wikia - is the way Lord is pronounced in Japanese. So Phantom Lord becomes Fantomu Rodo and I chose to call José's Yakuza syndicate Rodo, just in case you were a bit confused.

This is a Gajeel x Levy fic but they'll probably be other couples thrown in so yes, watch out for that ~

I'm really excited about this fic, but I probably won't update it until Smokin' Hot is finished because I am notorious for not being able to properly concentrate on two things at once, but SH should be finished by the end of May / early June anyway.

So guys, any questions? Let me know what you think of this fic idea, and I'll be back with an update in a few weeks.

REVIEW PLEASE ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

**Against the Current**

**Summary:** It was supposed to be a simple con. She was supposed to walk in dirt poor and walk out with more riches than she'd ever imagined. It wasn't supposed to end with her on the hit list of one of the most feared Yakuza families in the land.

**2; **into the fire

Levy blinked in confusion as she allowed a warm hand to help her out of the back of the carriage. She watched in shocked silence as he easily pulled apart the restraints on her wrists.

"I was worried for a second, we'd be too late," the man said conversationally as he watched her right at herself.

"Uh...huh..." she muttered slowly, eyes widening as she took in the strange scene before her. The carriage she had been taken hostage in was lying pathetically in some sort of ditch, and she couldn't help but notice at least two of the wheels were missing. She frowned in confusion as she took note of the deep skid marks in the dirt.

"_What the fuck?"_

Her gaze moved across the ground to where a man was lying.

"Oh."

"'Oh'?" the man with long black hair spat, "that's all you can say?" he growled, cradling his nose in both his hands. A small trail of blood was trickling down his front.

To say that Levy was confused would have been an understatement. She shook her head and stumbled backwards, leaning against the fallen carriage.

"What...what _happened_?" she asked quietly.

_"Oi, don't ignore me!" _the black haired man hissed, standing up slowly.

"We rescued you," the other man said with a smile, crouching downwards slightly so he could be on her eye level, "I'm afraid I couldn't stop the beating they gave you back at the bar, but I hope this is enough."

His little explanation did nothing to squash her concerns. She shook her head, "who are you?"

"My name is Lily," he said with a kind smile, "this is my partner, Gajeel Redfox. And who might you be, ma'am?"

Levy bit her lip as she contemplated her answer. Living where she did, giving out one's real name wasn't really something that was done. She couldn't count the amount of times she'd labeled herself as Stephanie or Jessica to avoid one of her crimes being traced back to her and her shabby little apartment.

"Oi, we saved your life," Gajeel said suddenly, as if he had read her mind, "and you responded by breaking my nose. The least you could do is tell us your name."

"Oh, don't exaggerate Gajeel," Lily laughed, "it's not broken. Probably bruised though. Wendy can have a look at it when we get back."

"Hurts like a bitch though," he grumbled, still cradling his nose, "you've got a decent kick, Shrimp."

As her eye twitched, she thought about how, for a few fleeting seconds, she had felt sorry for the blunt man, but with his use of the name _Shrimp _she felt no remorse for quickly squashing the feeling of compassion.

Besides, there was no room for sympathy or compassion in the real world, she had learnt firsthand that the people you opened your heart up to would be the first to let you down.

Still, she thought carefully, they had saved her from a terrible fate and she supposed that warranted just a little bit of gratitude.

"Levy," she said curtly, "my name is Levy."

"Pretty name," Lily said with a nod, "and, if you don't mind me prying, what were you doing in that bar?" he paused for a moment and looked down at her, "you don't look like the type of woman to frequent bars with José Porla."

She blushed at that and glanced down, knowing her attire wasn't doing her any favours. She knew the light pink kimono she wore wouldn't have been out of place on a Lord's wife. Still blushing, she glanced back up at Lily to see he was staring at her with a knowing look on his face.

"I had business with him," she replied stubbornly, not wanting to divulge all her secrets to him, "what were _you _doing there?" she asked curiously, remembering the state she had seen him in, "it didn't look like you and José were on friendly terms."

Gajeel sniggered at her words, "that's an understatement."

"I had business with him," Lily replied, echoing her words from before, though he wore a smile on his face as opposed to her permanent scowl, "business that would have seen me killed, if you hadn't pulled your little stunt, and for that, I am eternally grateful."

"That wasn't my intention. I was just supposed to take my money and leave," Levy muttered, embarrassed by his words, "and you just saved my life, so we're even."

Lily said nothing for a moment or two before shrugging his shoulders, "that we are."

"T-thank you for saving me," she ground out awkwardly, bowing her heard jerkily to both men.

Lily shrugged, "I'm a man of honour."

For some reason, Gajeel seemed to find that statement extremely funny, if his odd little laugh was anything to go by.

"Come," Lily said suddenly, "we should get going. Sooner or later, somebodies going to realise their little package hasn't turned up yet."

"What, you don't think you can handle them?" Gajeel asked with a laugh.

"Quite the contrary my friend," Lily responded with a laugh of his own, "I'd just rather not put Miss Levy in any more danger."

"I can look after myself," she snapped defensively.

"Sure you can," Gajeel yawned, in a tone one might reserve for talking to a young child. Levy's eyes narrowed as she looked at him, it wasn't a tone she was fond of hearing.

"Now, now," Lily said quickly, perhaps sensing the waves of annoyance rolling off Levy's body, "let's get going. Gajeel, fetch your sword."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered before lumbering off towards the front of the carriage. Lily followed him automatically and after a few moments of hesitation, Levy followed behind him.

What she saw, once they reached the front of the carriage, made her drop her mouth open in shock.

_"How?" _she breathed as she stared at the unconscious bodies of Totomaru and Rei. Rei was slumped unconscious across the front of the carriage, blood steadily trickling down his forehead. Lying a few feet away from the wreckage was Totomaru. His face was a bloodied mess and she could clearly see a dark bruise forming around his right eye. She winced slightly as she noticed the odd way his leg was bending backwards, and she didn't doubt that it had been broken.

She watched in silence as Gajeel bent down over Totomaru's bodied and swiped the slim blade that rested on his hips. He snorted as he stood upright and roughly kicked the man over. Even in his unconscious state, he gasped as Gajeel's foot made contact with his stomach and blood trickled out of his mouth.

"Idiots," Gajeel muttered, sticking the sword in the holder around his hips.

"You...you two did this?" she asked in awe, still staring at the bloodied and beaten body of Totomaru.

"Of course," Lily said, staring at her with a frown, "we needed to rescue you."

"And get my sword back."

"You did all of this _alone_?" she asked, incredulously, waving her arms around wildly at the scene of wreckage and destruction around them.

"Yes," Lily said again, as if the answer was obvious, "it wasn't hard."

Levy nodded weakly, not understanding how two men could cause so much damage on their own. How did they even manage to stop the carriage, let alone catch both Rei and Totomaru and render them unconscious?

Not for the first time that night, a feeling of dread began to pool in her stomach.

She glanced up and caught sight of a devilish glint in Gajeel's eyes, and she wondered just what kind of people she'd gotten herself mixed up with.

.

.

.

José Porla scowled into the darkness, cursing the events of the night. Though he hadn't come off any worse, money wise, the fact that two separate entities had infiltrated his ranks annoyed him to know end.

He didn't doubt that the blue haired girl had no idea what she was doing and who she was getting involved with. But disrespect was disrespect and she had to be taught a lesson.

He stroked his chin softly as he stared out of the window, a sadistic grin gracing his features as he thought of the young woman. No doubt Totomaru and Rei would have already reached one of his many whorehouses near Hakobe. He would have the girl work there for a few months - at least - just to teach her some respect.

Then he would have her brought back to him. She was a very pretty girl after all. He sneered openly as he imagined the small girl writhing underneath him as he decided he liked that plan. He needed a new woman after all.

As he turned from the window, his thoughts shifted from the blue haired woman to the _man _and his sneer immediately dropped from his face.

"Lily," he growled, "_god damn Lily_."

He was annoyed to admit it, but it wasn't the first time Lily had escaped from his clutches before. The man was like a damn cat. His stealth skills were second to none, and José could admit that if he hadn't claimed his head several years ago, he wouldn't have minded Lily to join his family.

Sighing, he knocked his knuckles on his table repeatedly before standing up, deciding he might take a trip to his whorehouse near Hakobe the following morning and attempt to relieve some stress.

He would deal with Lily later.

.

.

.

"Tch," Gajeel snorted as he glanced down at her and noticed her biting her lip, "they're not gonna be leaving that spot for a while, you know?"

She scowled up at him, "I _know_."

After Gajeel had retrieved his sword they had lumbered off towards where Lily claimed their own method of transportation was hidden. For the most part, Levy just stumbled blindly after them, barely managing to find her way in the cool darkness of the evening.

Every now and then she would glance backwards and peer nervously into the night, checking for any followers and Gajeel had finally caught her.

She stuck out her bottom lip and huffed before dashing forwards a few steps so she could walk next to Lily instead of Gajeel.

She wasn't sure how she felt about either man just yet, but she knew Lily was the kinder of the two. He shot her warm smiles and stuck out his arm to warn her of ditches as they walked. Gajeel sneered condscendingly at her and barked for her to hurry up before he left her lying in the dirt. It took every ounce of her self control not to kick him squarely in the groin and leave _him _lying in the dirt, but she reasoned that might have been just a bit too rude considering they had rescued her after all.

Just as her legs were beginning to cramp Lily ground to an abrupt halt. They had finally reached the dusty main road where two black horses stood patiently kicking up dirt. Attached to the horses was a simple wooden cart with a raised seating area and some extra space for goods to be stored.

As they approached, the horse nearest to them snorted wildly and roughly kicked up a cloud of dirt just as Gajeel approached. Levy giggled as she watched him splutter in annoyance as he tried to wave away the dust in his face.

"Oi, you bastard horse," he grunted, gently slapping the creature on it's rear, "is that how you greet your master?"

As if it had understood Gajeel's question, the horse shook its thick black mane and snorted derisively in Gajeel's face.

Levy watched in amusement as Gajeel began yelling curses at the horse. To her surprise the horse snorted and growled back, making her wonder if it too was yelling at its master.

"Both as bad as each other," Lily sighed, shaking his head as he too walked up to the cart and stroked the side of the other black horse. In contrast to the arguing Gajeel and his horse, this horse rubbed it's neck quietly along Lily's hands.

Lily smiled and stroked the horse for a few more seconds before he turned and gestured to Levy.

"Come on then, Miss Levy, let's get ready to leave."

She hesitated for only a moment before she quickly dashed across the road. As she passed the horse Gajeel was _still _arguing with, she noticed that upon closer inspection, the horse wasn't exactly black. Its coat seemed to be an extremely dark gray.

She gasped as the gray horse suddenly turned its head towards her and fixed her with a surprisingly steely gaze. Remembering the mildly violent way the horse had greeted Gajeel, she held her breath and tensed herself, preparing to be showered in dirt. To her surprise, the horse simply watched her for a few seconds before turning its head back to Gajeel - who was still grumbling and was now roughly poking the horse on the neck.

Frowning, she slowly stepped backwards and climbed into the front of the cart, sliding next to Lily with ease.

"That Panther," Lily said suddenly, pointing to the calm and docile black horse, "had him since he was a foal," there was a note of pride in his voice as he looked over at the glistening coat of black that stood just a few metres away from them.

"He's very...well behaved," Levy said awkwardly. She had never been one for small talk, preferring to keep herself to herself and only speak when the situation called for it. It was too easy to draw attention to yourself if you spoke too much after all.

Seemingly not hearing her lack of want to continue the conversation, or simply ignoring it, Lily carried on, and pointed at the other horse.

"And that's Metalicana, Gajeel's horse. A devil in a horse disguise if you ask me."

"Oi," Gajeel snapped. Levy tensed as the bulky man chucked himself into the seat next to her. She hadn't even noticed him leave Metalicana, "when he bites your arm again, don't blame me."

"I will most certaintly blame you for not being able to keep your horse under control!"

"Tch."

Lily shook his head, and Levy got the distinct impression that they had had this conversation numerous times before.

"Just get going, Lil'" Gajeel yawned, leaning his head backwards against the wooden seat, "gramps'll start wondering where we are. Nobody wants him to send Erza out to find us again."

Lily shuddered but nodded. He lifted the reins that had fallen down by his feet and tugged at them lightly. Both horses whinnied quietly.

"Take us home boys," he called.

The horses whinnied a little louder before raising their front legs and dashing off down the deserted main road.

"And me?" Levy said suddenly as the carriage began barrelling down the road, "you can drop me off near my town. I'll walk the rest of the way."

"And where might that be, Miss?" Lily asked politely.

"Kunugi," she said quickly, "I live in a small village just outside Kunugi."

Lily's reaction had been just as she had expected. For a few brief seconds he took his eyes off the road and stared at her carefully.

"Kunugi?"

She nodded her head sharply, "Kunugi."

"Well shit," Gajeel muttered.

She shrugged.

Kunugi was quite possibly the poorest district in Fiore. It was known for its poverty, hunger, violence and crime. The average life expectancy in Kunugi was less than 30 years old, and was decreasing with each year. She'd heard officials call it was cesspool of Fiore. Criminals would be dumped there, spared from completing an actual sentence in jail due to a bribe of some sort. The yakuza ran wild. Whore houses were set up on every corner. People pick pocketed like their lives depended on it - which, it actually probably did. Levy liked to think of it as hell on earth.

"I'm...I'm sorry to hear that," Lily said quietly.

"I don't need your sympathy!" she snapped quickly, "just drop me off there so I can be gone."

"I'm afraid that may not be possible," he said with a nervous smile, "you see, I can guarantee you that when José learns you did not arrive at his designated location _and _he sees that state of his henchmen, he's going to want your head. José is a very vengeful man."

_"I _didn't do anything to those two men. You did."

"We can take care of ourselves," Gajeel put in suddenly, making her glare at him. He said it in that same patronising tone of voice as before and it only served to fuel her anger.

She opened her mouth to hiss back at him, but Lily got there before her.

"We're not saying you can't look after yourself," he said quickly, "it's just, Kunugi is not a very safe area. With José looking for you, I surmise it won't be any safer. You've managed to survive this long, but running back there will mean your death in a few days. I guarantee it. Rescuing you only to have you murdered a few days later is quite pointless you see."

She could understand the logic behind his reasoning, but it didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"And what do you propose I do about that?"

"You come with us."

_"What?"_ both Gajeel and Levy yelled at the same time, staring at Lily with identical looks on confusion and disbelief on their faces.

"What the hell Lily? Have you lost your damn mind?" Gajeel yelled, "I thought you were gonna say we'll drop her off in a different district or something. She can't come with us."

"Damn right I can't come with you!" Levy put in, a determined pout on her lips, "despite what you may think about Kunugi, I have a life there. I can't just up and leave like that."

Lily waved a placating hand in the air, "not permanently of course. Just until this ordeal with José dies down," he said to Levy before turning to Gajeel, "there's nobody else who could offer Miss Levy better protection against José and Rodo than us."

"We don't have the resources."

"We do."

"And who's gonna play babysitter for her? Cause it sure as hell ain't gonna be me!"

_"I don't need a damn babysitter!"_

"That's for Master to decide, you know that Gajeel," Lily said sternly, choosing to ignore Levy's little outburst.

Gajeel did not answer, instead he huffed loudly and crossed his arms around his chest tightly, sending Levy a heated glare that she was sure she did not deserve.

"I didn't ask for this you know?" she growled, crossing her own arms around her chest and giving Gajeel _her _best glare.

"You brought it on yourself getting involved with José Porla," he muttered, "_idiot."_

Resisting the urge to slap him firmly across the face, Levy shifted slightly so she was angled more into where Lily sat.

"Just assuming I agree with this," she said slowly, "where do you live?"

"Magnolia."

Levy's eyes widened in shock. She had never been to Magnolia before but she'd heard stories about it. It had once been a beauitful land. The pride of Fiore. With wonderful endless fields of green and sparkling clear seas. The sun always seemed to shine down on Magnolia no matter what the weather. That was before the disasters. Natural disasters wrecked havoc on the large district, destroying fields, polluting rivers. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes; the district suffered through them all within the space of a year. The once beautiful district was now a mere shadow of its former self.

It was nowhere near as bad as Kunugi. The government actually cared about Magnolia, and spent money, time and effort into trying to fix the district and bring it back to its former glory but they just hadn't been able to recapture what it was that made Magnolia the pride of Fiore before. Unlike in Kunugi, they didn't have a problem of poverty in Magnolia, but they had a severe problem with violence.

A yakuza family called Teiru had been making its name known slowly throughout the land and they had set up home in Magnolia. She didn't know much about Teiru, having only heard whispers about the family as she dashed through the dirty streets of Kunugi. She heard the members of Teiru were a fearless, ruthless, drunken and insane bunch of people who had no qualms about destroying anything to get what the wanted.

She remembered one evening hearing a story about a member who had been nicknamed _Salamander. _Apparently the man had a strange love for fire and didn't hesitate to burn an enemy alive if he could.

She didn't know how much truth there was to the rumours about Teiru but they were enough to make her nervous. Slyly she glanced towards Lily and then at Gajeel,

"Is it safe there?"

"Is it safe anywhere these days?" Lily sighed, shaking his head as they turned down a smaller road, "staying with us in Magnolia is as probably as safe as you'll get. José or any of his underlings won't even be able to get into the district without us knowing."

She nodded, still not feeling totally convinced, "and...and what about that yakuza family T-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Gajeel began sniggering loudly. To her surprise, even Lily cracked a smile.

"No yakuza family will bother you in Magnolia, Shrimp." Gajeel laughed.

She glanced for Lily to Gajeel and figured they were enjoying some sort of inside joke between themselves.

Huffing, she slumped down further in her seat, "fine. I'll go with you. But this isn't a permanent thing. As soon as that José man is off my case, I'm gone."

"Good," Gajeel grunted quietly under his breath.

Lily, on the other hand, shot Levy one of his kind smiles, "of course, Miss Levy, of course."

.

.

.

She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, all she knew was when she opened her eyes the sky had transformed from a blanket of darkness into a soft pink glow. She groaned as she stretched and sat forwards.

"My neck hurts," she muttered, massaging it gently in an attempt to get rid of the kinks in it.

"I'm not surprised," Lily said, "you've been sleeping for the last two hours. And Gajeel isn't the softest pillow."

"Huh?" she frowned, turning towards the man in question. Her eyebrows shot up as she noticed he was still sitting with his arms crossed tightly across his chest, but his eyes were squeezed shut. In his slumber he had shifted slightly to the right so he was brushing against Levy gently.

She realised, belatedly, that in her sleep she had probably been leaning on him, as he had with her.

"Not. A. Word," she ground out to Lily who was still staring at her with a knowing smirk. He laughed at that but nodded.

"We're nearly there," he said instead, pointing up the road, "just down there and we'll reach the compound."

"Have you been awake this whole time?"

"Mostly. I drifted off for a few minutes every now and then. There's not much to worry about, Panther and Metalicana know these roads very well."

She nodded to herself and leant back in the seat, careful to shift a bit further away from Gajeel. She watchd the scenery around them, unable to contain her awe. She'd never seen much of the world apart from Kunugi and a few derelict towns that weren't far from the poorest district.

Magnolia seemed like a completely different world.

Despite the natural disasters that had plagued the district, she still found it breathtaking. She watched as early rising birds fluttered from thick green trees and danced in the reddish hue of the sky. She smiled as the wind fluttered across her face and wound itself in her hair. She sniffed surreptiously, deciding that the air in Magnolia tasted nicer than in Kunugi. She didn't feel like she was suffocating.

For the first time in memory, she felt free.

The horses trotted along for a few more minutes before turning down a sideroad covered in trees and foliage. She watched suspiciously as a large black gate erupted into view surrounded by high white walls. Two men flanked either side of the gate, a blade strapped to the side of both of their hips.

"Gajeel," Lily said loudly, "we're here."

He woke up immediately, as if he hadn't even really been asleep, and grinned, "about damn time. I need to bathe."

Levy sniffed, "you've got that right."

Gajeel either ignored or simply didn't hear her comment, "oi, oi, Freed, Bixlow," he called out to the two men by the gate, "let us in already."

The horses ground to a halt just outside the gate and waited patiently for entrance. Levy noticed the way Metalicana snorted loudly as the man with long green hair moved closer.

"You've been a while," he said, "Master was just starting to get worried."

Gajeel smirked, "some_one _got held up," he glanced towards Lily who was also smirking.

"Nice eye, Lily," the man with short dark blue hair sniggered.

Lily bowed his head, accepting the taunting with ease, "can you let us in, we've got someone to meet Master."

The two men peered further into the cart and glanced at Levy with poorly disguised interest.

"Who's the kid?" the blue haired man asked.

"I'm _not _a kid," she answered, bringing herself up to her full height - which wasn't very tall anyway.

"This is Miss Levy," Lily said, "and she's under our protection."

The green haired man nodded before turning around and lifting a catch on the gate. He pushed it open with relative ease and signally for them to go in.

The blue haired man stood backwards and nodded to them as the horses began to trot inside, "welcome to Teiru, kid," he smirked, deliberately irking her.

It was only after they entered the gated compound and her frustration at being called a kid had subsided, did she really hear what he had said.

"Teiru..." she said slowly, her eyes widening, "did he just call this Teiru?"

Lily nodded whilst Gajeel threw his head back and laughed.

Her heart beat quickened as the horses moved towards a stable area and she watched people walking around the compound. Some of them had blades attached to their back or wrists, some of their bodies were decorated in tattoos. A large maroon flag hung from the biggest and central building, with the same logo Lily had on his clothing.

She gulped as she began to understand her situation, "Teiru...Teiru as in the yakuza family Teiru?" she asked, knowing the answer anyway.

Gajeel turned and grinned at her wildly, showing his sharp teeth, "hell yeah."

For what it was worth, Levy managed to stifle her scream of fear.

.

.

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**A/N: **Sorry this came out a whole month later than I actually planned I GOT SUPER LAZY!

Review please guys!


	3. Chapter 3

**Against the Current**

**Summary: **It was supposed to be a simple con. She was supposed to walk in dirt poor and walk out with more riches than she'd ever imagined. It wasn't supposed to end with her on the hit list of one of the most feared Yakuza families in the land.

**3; **fresh meat

"Did you hear? Bacchus is in town again!"

The sound of water being disturbed and splashed around the bathhouse made the inhabitants of it shake their heads in dismay.

"Where'd you hear that?"

"_Cover yourself Cana!"_

The woman in question, Cana Alberona, dimly looked downwards and regarded her nude and dripping wet body without much interest, "we're all women in here, no?" she asked, waving a nonchalant hand in front of her face.

"That doesn't mean Wendy wants your derriere in her face," a blue haired woman sniffed, crossing her arms her chest tightly.

"You're such a prude, Juvia. Anyway, I don't hear Wendy complaining!" she thrust her thumb backwards and pointed at a small teenage girl who was currently doing her best to look anywhere other than Cana's bottom.

"Now," Cana huffed before turning away from her and pointing at a silver haired woman who was currently squeezing the water out of her hair, "where'd you hear that Mira?"

Mira shook her head and smirked, "you're so predictable Cana. Anyone would think you have feelings for him," she narrowed her eyes slyly.

"Ugh! I just need to get my pride back from that jerk!"

"Your...pride?" Mira and Juvia both echoed in confusion.

Cana nodded, "he _stole _it from me, you know?"

"Oh...oh...oh my," Mira gasped, coming to her own conclusions, "he didn't -"

"Yes!" Cana growled, "he cheated and beat me in a drinking contest! That bastard, I've been waiting for a year to drink his ass into an early grave, _paha!"_

"You're so crass," Mira grumbled, sighing in relief, "anyway, I heard Master wants to discuss some trading possibilities with Quatros - you know they're based near the riverbank after all. Bacchus will be accompanying Goldmine apparently."

Cana sniggered.

"Make sure you don't do anything until they've met with Master," Juvia said seriously, knowing just how carried away Cana and Bacchus could get on occasion.

Cana nodded and sank back into the hot bath, a content grin crossing her features as she began to pour water over her body once again, "I won't, don't worry about it Juvia. I'm not an idio-"

The door to the bathhouse was suddenly flung open and a head of short silver hair popped in.

"Hey Lisanna," Cana grinned, waving towards the petite woman as she entered the room properly, "you coming in?"

"Morning guys," she smiled back, nodding to the few women that were sat in the steamy baths, "not right now. I just came to collect Wendy."

"Hm?" the blue haired teen whipped her head around, "me?"

"Lily and Gajeel are back. Apparently they're a bit injured. Master asked me to come and get you."

"Ah r-right!" Wendy stood up quickly, her shyness forgotten for a few brief moments as she reached for her towel and wrapped it tightly around her body. She turned and bowed her head to the girls, "I'll see you later," she squeaked before dashing off towards the changing area to grab her clothes. Lisanna waved as well and swiftly followed after Wendy leaving Cana, Juvia and Mira alone in the bathhouse.

"Juvia was wondering when they'd get back," she mumbled, biting her lip slightly, "Juvia was getting worried."

Cana sighed, shook her head, and gently slapped Juvia on the back, sending the blue haired woman stumbling forwards into the water, "you've gotta loosen up, girl!" she hooted, flashing her friend a confident smile, "you've known Gajeel for years now, you should know better than everyone that there's not a force on this earth that could stop him."

Juvia smiled and resumed washing herself, "Juvia thinks you are right."

Cana winked, "hell yeah I am!"

.

.

.

Gajeel grit his teeth and balled his hand up into a fist as they finally ground to a halt in the centre of the Main Hall.

"...just saying I think this is something you should have mentioned!"

"Shut _up_," he growled, whirling on the pint sized woman who hadn't quit screeching since she had caught on to who they really were. Whilst Lily seemed to have mastered the act of simply ignoring her wails, Gajeel had a tougher time at it and it took all his energy not to turn on her and tie a cloth around her mouth.

Levy, mimicking his actions it seemed, balled her smaller fists up and glared up at him, her brown eyes brimming with what he knew were tears. Feeling mildly comforted by her obvious displeasure, he smirked and withdrew his gaze from her and instead focused on the rapidly filling Hall.

Every few seconds, doors at either end of the hall would be thrust open and small hordes of people would amble in. A few of them waved genially to Lily, or smirked and nodded their heads towards Gajeel. For the most part, they tended to narrow their eyes and frown as the focused in on Levy. They weren't fond of unfamiliar faces. Stood next to him, he could sense the way she squirmed every time a pair of eyes scrutinized her and it made him want to laugh.

She irked him.

Aside from the whole kicking him in the nose thing, her general attitude stank. She was rude, ungrateful and thought _way _too much of herself for somebody who had just been rescued.

"...can't believe you're _Yakuza_. _Yakuza! _Unbelievable!" she was still muttering furiously under her breath and at that moment, Gajeel decided he couldn't wait till she was free from his hair.

"About time you two delinquents showed up."

"Oi, oi," Gajeel growled bowing his head briefly towards the old man who had just entered hall, flanked by two women and a young teen, "don't even think about blaming me this time, Old Man. S'all his fault," he cocked a thumb backwards and pointed at Lily.

Lily bowed his head as well, a little deeper than Gajeel had, "Master Makarov," he said politely by way of greeting, "I apologize for the delay."

The older man, Makarov, settled himself down onto a large red cushion, placed on a slight raised platform. The two older women who had entered with him stood by his side whilst the teenager moved towards a corner and crouched down patiently.

"For your manners, Lily, I can forgive you," Makarov said with a fatherly grin, "I was beginning to worry though. I told you to send word if the mission would take longer than expected."

"I apologize again, Master," Lily said earnestly, ducking his head, "travelling to the town took longer than expected. Then we ran into some trouble with José an-"

"That would be the black eye, yes?"

Gajeel sniggered, forgetting that he too had been injured.

"Yes," Lily admitted, smiling wryly as he gently pawed at his black eye, "a miscalculation on my behalf."

"And the girl?" Makarov asked in a not unkind tone, gesturing to the now silent Levy, "it's not like you to bring back a trophy."

Gajeel couldn't hide his laugh as he felt Levy visibly bristle next to him.

"I assure you, I'm _not _a trophy," she hissed.

He had to hand it to her, if he hadn't been standing right next to her and able to see the way she subtly shook when she spoke to her, he never would have guessed that she was afraid.

Makarov's lips twitched upwards before he nodded, "apologies, ma'am," he said before turning back to Lily, "I trust you attained the information I requested about Rodo?"

Lily nodded and briefly glanced down at Levy and then to Makarov again. Makarov nodded slightly and then smiled, the implication in their exchange was obvious to everyone; they would talk later…in private.

"Now!" he clapped his hands together, "I think it's high time you explain your little friend to me."

"Tch," Gajeel snorted at the word _friend_. He was just about willing to admit Lily was a friend, and they'd known each other for as long as he could remember.

"Kid saved Lil's life or something," he said brusquely, "thought he owed her something, so we brought her back."

"_I'm not a child you oaf!"_

All around them, the spectators in the Hall laughed at her poorly disguised insult and Gajeel watched as her cheeks reddened slightly.

"I see you're acquainted with Gajeel," Makarov smiled, "Lily, would you care to explain?"

Gajeel rolled his eyes and listened impatiently to Lily recall the events that had led to the blue haired woman tagging along with them. He sniggered as Lily told Makarov how he had been caught snooping around by some of José's henchmen, quickly forgetting how worried he had been for his companion just a few hours prior. He outright cackled loudly as Lily spoke of how Levy had foolishly agreed to a second game with José – the game which sealed her fate.

Next to him, Levy twitched.

To his delight, Lily glossed over the specifics of their missions, notably omitting exactly how Gajeel had received his minor injury to the nose.

"Although she hadn't saved me intentionally," Lily finished, smiling at Levy who simply scowled, "I couldn't leave Miss Levy in her predicament."

Around them, Gajeel could hear the murmurs of his comrades gushing about Lily's kindness, "don't forget you wanted to get back at José for that black eye," he snorted, winking devilishly at his partner.

Lily had the good nature to blush and nod him head in agreement, "you know me well, Gajeel."

Makarov nodded firmly, "and you brought her with you because?"

"We did not leave José's companions in a favourable state," Lily admitted with a wry grin, "knowing José's passion for vengeance, I did not believe sending Miss Levy back to Kunugi would be very beneficial to her."

Gajeel watched Levy roll her eyes as the people in the room began gasping and murmuring at the mention of the worst district in the land. Even he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he continued to watch her. The fact that she had survived so long in such harsh conditions was unfathomable to him, yet here she was.

Makarov cleared his throat loudly to get the attention of everybody once again, "your reasoning is sound, Lily. Though I do wish you would have consulted me on it before bringing her in here."

Lily bowed his head in apology and Gajeel roughly ducked his own. There Master was an easy going guy for the most part, and for some reason treated them all like his own children. But Gajeel respected the man and was willing to adhere to societies formalities when it came to Makarov. Just barely, but he still did it and he imagined it was the thought that counted.

"Miss Levy, you are permitted to stay on our grounds until _we _deem it is safe enough for you to return home. I can see by your…" he smiled kindly, "by your scowl…that you were not expecting to fall into the hands of yet another Yakuza family so soon after fleeing Rodo."

Gajeel watched as Levy jerkily nodded her head, the inside of her mouth twitching. He smirked as he imagined her chewing her inner cheek to stop her from yelling something disrespectful out.

"Despite what you may have heard of us, we at Teiru are far less bloodthirsty than I'm sure you're envisioning. You will be treated as a most welcomed guest; no harm shall come to you as long as you follow the rules set in place for your own safety and ours. Understood?"

"Understood," she said clearly, "and what will your rules be?"

"Not too many, fear not. I simply ask you do not leave the compound unaccompanied. This is both for your own safety and our own. Magnolia has is not as bad as Kunugi, but I daresay we're not far off. In an unfamiliar district, you would meet your demise quickly should you not be adequately chaperoned. We would also have the whereabouts of our compound remain a secret from the greater community. Should you agree to this rule, I will be more than happy to assure you that whilst you are under my protection, no harm shall ever come to you. I give you my word," he bowed his head deeply as he finished his little speech.

All eyes were on Levy in the brief moments of silence after Makarov finished speaking. She glanced around, the nerves obvious in her expression. She hesitated before speaking, and Gajeel noticed the way her voice shook ever so slightly. Slowly, she gripped the sides of her kimono and bowed deeply at the waist,

"I…uh…I thank you for your hospitality," she said quietly as she righted herself, "please…please…protect me."

Gajeel grinned as she ground out the last three words, as if it physically pained her to get them out.

Almost instantly, the tense atmosphere in the room evaporated as Makarov clapped his hands together and hopped up so he was standing. In seconds he jumped off his cushion and darted over to where Levy stood with speed Gajeel just _knew _a man of his age shouldn't have possessed.

The Yakuza Master demeanor fell from his face and was replaced with a grandfatherly smile as he clasped Levy's hand and shook it firmly.

"Master Makarov!" he said brightly, "welcome to the family Levy. Welcome to Teiru."

Gajeel could clearly hear her whimper.

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.

She wanted to scream and shout and fling herself roughly against walls and tear down paintings and chuck ornaments and kick and punch everything and everyone in her way. She wanted to turn on her heel and bolt through the tall gates back in the courtyard and run back to her shoddy little apartment in Kunugi. She didn't care if that action would result in her death; she just knew she wanted to be anywhere but _here_.

She hated feeling so utterly helpless. All her life she had relied on herself for everything. She never had the luxury of being able to rely on anyone who help her to do anything. She couldn't even remember her parents! Her earliest memories were of the old hags in the orphanage who would leave piles of mushed up food in a pig trowel and leave the kids under their care to fight for their own portions. From a young age she'd learnt not to rely on anyone, and now, here she was, being expected to rely on a group of complete strangers to protect her life. Not to mention the fact that they were hardened _criminals. _And not the type of criminal she was either. She knew what she did was wrong, but reasoned that it was morally justifiable. She only stole from the excessively rich after all. But the people at Teiru? They were _Yakuza. _No matter what Makarov said, they were bloodthirsty, ruthless, conniving and evil.

She sniffed as she followed the two women who had entered with Makarov down an empty corridor. Behind them, Lily and Gajeel walked at a slower pace conversing with the blue haired teenager.

Once Makarov had let go of her hand, he ordered that the women – Lisanna and Erza – take them to the infirmary whilst he sorted out a room for her. Levy had nodded dumbly and wordlessly followed the women out of the Hall, acutely away of the many pairs of curious eyes that followed her as she went. For some strange reason she couldn't quite understand, the blue haired teen hopped up almost immediately and eagerly followed them out. She shrugged it off though, deciding she didn't _want _to understand. The less she knew about these people the better. She half-heartedly wondered if she could spend all her time locked away in the room she would be given.

"We're _hereeee_," the woman with short silver hair sung as she stopped abruptly in front of a pair of double doors, she turned and shot Levy a smile she did not return.

Instead, Levy nodded and followed the women into the room. They were both dressed in casual yukata's. The silver haired woman who seemed to be fond of smiling at Levy wore a light purple one with the Teiru stamp on the back, whereas the red head who had yet to even glance at Levy wore an all-black one.

The room they entered was a fairly large one, with wooden cots rammed in wherever possible. Levy raised an eyebrow as she counted at least twenty and wondered just how injured the members of Teiru got.

"Take a seat," the bubbly silver haired woman said, "Wendy will be with you in a second."

Levy nodded again and wordlessly sat down on one of the wooden benches as the woman darted around the room lighting a few lamps. To her surprise, the red haired woman sat down next to her, and for the first time since they had met she turned and looked at her.

Levy froze as she stared into the woman's calculating eyes. She wanted to inch backwards but forced herself to stand her ground. She would _not _be intimidated by these criminals.

"Erza Scarlet," the woman said suddenly, extending her hand towards Levy.

"Eh?!" Levy squawked, staring at the hand, "oh…Levy," she said curtly, clasping her hand and shaking it quickly. In the few seconds their hands touched, Levy immediately felt the rough calluses and scars on Erza's hand. It felt odd compared to her own relatively smooth hands.

"I apologize for my earlier harshness," Erza said with a small smile, "but Master is too easily trusting. We've been betrayed before by one of his charity cases-"

Before Levy had the chance to bristle at being referred to as a "charity case", the silver haired woman sat herself down on the other side of Levy, "ah but it all worked out in the end didn't it Erza? No harm done!"

Erza smiled and for some reason Levy didn't understand, she turned and glanced over to the other side of the room where Lily and Gajeel were seated, "I suppose so," Erza said quietly.

Feeling like she was missing out on some sort of big inside secret only served to make Levy feel even more frustrated at her situation. She roughly crossed her arms over her chest and snapped,

"Is this Wendy person going to hurry up or not?"

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!" the teen from before, shouted from across the room. Levy rose a confused eyebrow as she watched the girl pull out her head from the drawer it was currently burrowed in, a handful of supplies cradled in her arms, "I'll be round to sort out your injuries in a moments guys," she said breathlessly to Gajeel and Lily before dashing across the room to where Levy and the others sat.

"This, Levy," Erza said, gesturing as Wendy skipped forwards, "this is Wendy."

It was all Levy could do not to snort in laughter as Wendy bowed her head politely in front of them.

"You're…you're the doctor?" she said skeptically, eyeing Wendy up and down. She decided that she couldn't be more than fifteen, and even that was pushing it.

"Mhm!" she chirped, her voice sounding like a permanent coo, "well, assistant doctor."

"Oh-"

"But don't worry!" Wendy said quickly, apparently sensing Levy's discomfort, "I was trained by Porlyusica herself! But she likes to take…um…breaks. So I'm covering for her!"

"And Wendy is just as talented as her," the silver haired woman said, fondly rubbing Wendy's head.

"Lisanna is right," Erza added, "she may only be thirteen, but Wendy possesses enough talent to fully take over from Porlyusica when she retires."

"She's pretty much retired anyway," Gajeel grumbled from across the room, "crazy old hag hasn't been in for months now."

"Ah, ah Gajeel," Lily chuckled, "watch your words, you don't want that getting back to her do you now?"

For reasons Levy didn't understand, Gajeel shuddered suddenly.

Frowning, she turned back to Wendy and nodded, "go on then."

Wendy's smile dropped from her face ever so slightly, but she recovered it quickly as she opened a tub of salve and began applying it on a few of the bruises and scratches on Levy's arms. Levy sat in a contemplative silence as she allowed Wendy to heal her wounds. The salve stung ever so slightly and she had to fight the urge to hiss out or wince in pain. Other than that, she simply sat and did her best to avoid eye contact with the others in the room. The situation was still too odd for her to comprehend. Never had she sat and let anyone dress her wounds for her before, let alone a kid ten years her younger. It didn't help that the teen seemed to be exceptionally good at her job for such a young child. Levy couldn't help but feel a little jealous. At that age she had been figuring out high fast she could run from the merchants she stole from, and here Wendy was learning valuable skills for life.

She smiled sadly, some people were just so damn lucky.

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She wasn't sure how long they waited in the infirmary, but eventually Wendy deemed her three patients were all well enough to leave. Lily left the room clutching a cloth filled with ice to his eye and with a bandage draped across his chest and Gajeel left reluctantly holding a cloth of ice to his nose. He had attempted to tell Wendy that it was most definitely broken, whilst glaring at Levy, but Wendy had deemed that it was simply just bruised and would stop being sore in a day or two.

During her time in the infirmary, both Lisanna and Wendy had attempted to make friendly conversation with her. Most of her answers came out in the form of a brief nod or a grunt and eventually the two stopped speaking to her and just spoke amongst themselves. Deep down, she knew she was being rude, but she couldn't force herself to smile and laugh with her captors.

She had decided that was what they were.

Captors.

She was in the exact same situation she had been in with José, except the people at Teiru were doing it under a friendly guise. She didn't doubt for a second that they would go back on their word and sell her just as quickly as José would once they thought she had outlived her usefulness. She balled her palms up into a fist and the thought passed through her mind and decided then and there that she wouldn't allow it to get to that stage. She would take them down before they could do the same to her.

A light tap against her arm sent a jolt of shock through her body and she whirled around, on edge with narrowed eyes. She found Erza standing behind her,

"Master has found you a room to stay in, come with me," she ordered, though Levy got the feeling that that was simply her normal tone of voice. Levy nodded and followed Erza out of the infirmary without a second glance to the people she had left in there.

"Most of the members of the family live on the compound, it's quite big," Erza explained as she led Levy through the corridors. Every now and then they would pass another person who would stare at Levy suspiciously and then bow their head in respect towards Erza before hurrying along. Erza introduced most of them to Levy politely and they would incline their heads politely towards her before going on their way.

Levy forgot all of their names almost immediately. It wasn't like she was making much of an effort to remember them anyway.

They walked for a short while longer, crossing the bustling courtyard. For a few fleeting seconds, Levy stared longingly at the large gates and wondered what her chances of breaking free were.

"The gates are guarded at all hours," Erza's commanding voice cut through as if she could read Levy's mind, "for our safety."

Levy nodded and continued walking. In her mind she snorted, _"for our safety? Yeah right." _The blades and chains and weapons the inhabitants of Teiru kept on their body hadn't gone unnoticed to her. The idea that these people needed protection was laughable.

Erza took her to the back of the compound where several relatively large sized buildings stood. Makarov stood outside, conversing with yet _another _woman with blue hair.

Levy couldn't help but smirk at that. All her life she'd been picked on and exiled because of her oddly coloured hair, yet blue haired women seemed to be in abundance in Teiru.

"Ah, Erza!" Makarov boomed when they approached, "I was just about to send Juvia for you. How are you Miss Levy?"

"Fine…thank you," she added jerkily, averting her gaze from his kind eyes. For some reason, he made her feel guilty. And she wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be feeling guilty for.

He nodded and smiled to himself, as if he had understood something that was only privy to himself, "these are the housing blocks. Most of the family members stay here. Apart from a few who have their own homes either on the compound or just outside. We have a few spare rooms in here. Mixed genders, I hope that won't be a problem?"

She shook her head. Living in Kunugi had her camping out with both males on females on more than one occasion. She knew where to grab and squeeze _just _hard enough to ensure nobody peeked on her whilst she bathed by now.

Makarov grinned and clapped his hands, "excellent, now Erza I need you with me to meet Goldmine at sunset, but Juvia here will be mor-"

Before Makarov had the chance to say just what Juvia would be doing, Levy heard an ear piercing screech followed by a, "_oh God put some clothes on damn it!" _

"Good lord," Makarov huffed.

Juvia tittered, "he never learns."

Erza narrowed her eyes.

"Wha-" Levy asked, just as a two large blurs dropped from the third storey and fell in a crumpled heap in the shrubbery below.

"Gray-sama," Juvia purred immediately darting towards the bushes and helping one of the blurs to his feet.

"_Natsu_," Erza growled, following Juvia to the bushes to _force _the other blur to his feet.

Levy blinked as two men, -one clothed (albeit scantily) and one wholly nude – stood up and glared at each other.

"Natsu! Gray!" Erza barked and Levy had to admit, their reaction was comical. The pair went from glaring daggers at one another to yelping and standing to their attention.

"E-E-Erza!" Gray stammered, "so lovely to see you!"

"Aye!" Natsu said, shaking slightly.

Before Erza had the chance to say anything, a head of blonde hair poked out from the window above, "you pull that crap again and I'll have your backs looking like _string_!" she screeched before huffing loudly and pulling her head back inside.

Thoroughly confused, Levy glanced down towards Makarov and saw that the situation didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. In fact, he looked a little bored.

"Boys, boys," he said in a long suffering tone of voice, "can you at least _try _to make a good first impression?"

"Huh?" they both hummed and looked towards Levy, suspicious stares on both their faces.

"Miss Levy," Makarov said amiably, "these will be a few of your neighbours."

She swallowed thickly, "n-neighbours?"

The pink haired one, Natsu, was grinning at with a look that rather reminded her of the demons she used to hear about in childrens stories. She imagined him with thick brown horns and a ferocious dragons tail whipping viciously behind him as he grinned at her looking like he wanted to devour her whole.

"Who's this gramps?" he asked, grinning as he inched closer to her, "fresh meat?"

At that moment in time, Levy didn't think there was a better phrase to describe her.

She nodded, "yeah…fresh meat."

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**A/N: **Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry for the lateness of this update. I still don't have a laptop right  
now so writing chances have been very scarce these past few months *sigh*. Anyways, I hope you liked my more skeptical and rude(?) version of Levy, I adore her!

Thank you for reviewing even though my update schedule sucks and everything, you guys are great xoxoxoxo


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